Everybody wants happy customers, and water utilities are no exception. Water is a fundamental part of life and customers tend to have strong opinions about it. From rates and billing systems to quality and taste, water is a commodity that people care about – and many of them are not shy about sharing their opinions.

That’s why communication with customers is so important. They need to understand, for example, the reasons for rate changes, voluntary conservation measures and upcoming infrastructure projects, especially those that might cause disruptions to service.

​While basic communication is important, it is not enough. Water utilities also must demonstrate they care for and value their customers. A campaign incorporating advertising, public relations and outreach can make a huge difference in the level of trust between a water utility and its customers. In this blog post, I’ll share three fresh approaches we have used at MNM to effectively engage water customers.

One leading owner’s rep is pushing that idea with its “OneModel” BIM-sharing approach.

By John Caulfield

Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of construction management as CEO of Gafcon, the owner’s rep firm based in San Diego that he and wife Pam founded in 1987.

Even as construction technology has helped topple silos that separate Building Team members, Gaffen still laments the industry’s dysfunction, especially in what he sees as the needlessly redundant way Building Information Modeling (BIM) data are shared and exchanged during the construction process and beyond. (The insurance and risk management company Aon has estimated that as much as 40% of the data needed to manage a building are lost before they’re handed off to the management team.)

“It’s been my experience that many [BIM] drawings that are assumed to be passed along aren’t,” says Gaffen. “Now, you can’t find anything. This isn’t efficient; it just wastes time and money.”

Whether or not you’re a sports fanatic, we think you’re going to want to stick around for the end of this Voice of San Diego podcast. Our VP of Public Relations Tanya Mannes Castaneda breaks down her first month at MNM in this fun and informative segment.

New VEBA Resource Center empowers members with a personalized approach to well-being, including individual and group counseling, healthy cooking classes, yoga and resources to improve access to care.

San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher helps kick off the Grand Opening Celebration.

SAN DIEGO, CA (January 24, 2019) – Created to provide customized programs to achieve personal health and wellness goals, the VEBA Resource Center (VRC) hosted its Grand Opening Celebration on Thursday with a reception event attended by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten and Robin Watkins with the American Federation of Teachers Local 1931.

SAN DIEGO — In Tanya Castaneda’s biography for her new position as vice president for Manolatos Nelson Murphy public relations firm, one line particularly stands out in capturing her character: “She is passionate about building public trust in the governmental, business and nonprofit institutions that touch our lives.” It only took a few minutes into a phone conversation with the Port of San Diego’s now former public information officer (PIO) to realize the depths of her care for connecting others with accurate, fact-based knowledge. Yet the story of how she became the PIO for Port of San Diego is a journey is certainly one that stands out among other public relations experts.

Castaneda was named 2018 CAPIO Communicator of the Year, served as Public Information Officer at the Port of San Diego and holds elite Accreditation in PR credential.

SAN DIEGO (January 14, 2019) –Manolatos Nelson Murphy, Inc. has announced the appointment of Tanya Mannes Castaneda as Vice President, Public Relations, as part of the firm’s strategic talent acquisition and commitment to enhance the service it provides to its growing portfolio of local, state and national clients.

​MNM Advertising & Public Relations was launched in 2016 by the principals of two San Diego firms with the vision of merging their respective public relations, public affairs, marketing and advertising capabilities. MNM is headed by Tony Manolatos, former principal of Apex Strategies, and Bob Nelson and Kelly Murphy Lamkin, former principals of BNA Communications.

San Diegans would be forgiven, perhaps even applauded, for avoiding Seaport Village. Aside from the view, the 38 year-old waterfront property’s best pitch to consumers involves chain restaurants and trinket shops, seemingly only securing the approbation of cruise ship patrons and out-of-towners.

​However, a grandiose plan to turn the prime real estate into a world-class destination lauded by locals and foreigners alike is currently underway. Called Seaport San Diego, the $1.6 billion project, backed in part by San Diego’s famed Jacobs family, was selected by the Port of San Diego in November 2016 to redevelop 70 acres — 39 land acres and 31 water acres — and is still in the beginning stages.

​The mixed-use project calls for 1,933 hotel rooms (spread across six different hotel brands), 276,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of office, 2,200 parking spaces and 14,000 linear feet of waterside dockage. There’s also 28 acres of public open space, not including an additional 10 acres of public-access rooftop decks. A best-case scenario would see development commence in three to four years and a first phase open to the public in 2024. Of course, financing, environmental review and agency approvals would all have to align perfectly so as not to trip up developer 1HWY1’s progress.

“Lead is unfortunately in school water throughout the nation," Dr. Hanna-Attisha said. “Schools are meant to be places were children learn and develop, not places where you can potentially be exposed to a neurotoxin which impedes learning and development.”

San Diego Unified began targeted testing for lead in school drinking water in 2017, working with its water provider, the City of San Diego, to assess the extent of the problem. Tests found elevated levels of lead in about 20 percent of schools tested. Outlets with elevated levels of lead were turned off, so students could not drink from them until they were repaired or replaced. The district also made plans to expand testing to include every outlet at every school.

SAN DIEGO –​ The City of San Diego should carefully weigh the costs and benefits of government-controlled energy before flipping the switch and moving residents and businesses into such a program.

​Our coalition has said we would support government-controlled energy in San Diego, also known as Community Choice Aggregation or CCA, if it were cheaper, greener and did not shift costs by forcing ratepayers in neighboring communities to subsidize the city’s new program.

As a younger man, he ran marathons. “I was running 100 miles a week,” Gaffen said. Friends and business associates said that need to challenge himself is typical, illustrated perhaps in that Gaffen is involved in two major projects on opposite sides of the planet.

​He and his partners in Protea Waterfront Development are developers of the $1.2 billon redevelopment of a 70-acre portion of San Diego’s waterfront that includes Seaport Village. His project management firm, Gafcon, also is overseeing the development of a sprawling waterfront site in China along the Huangpu River spanning five square miles. The project is estimated to cost more than $7 billion.